Are Smart Parts right ?

[Lucky]

Love 'em or hate 'em, spart parts are a big name in our industry, and as you are all aware they've just realeased the ion.
Now i know this gun still has to prove itself, but the prospects are promising with initally good reports.

Now for my question :
"i can see why they've produced it for the price, but if this gun proves worthy have they priced it too low"?

Now i'm not suggesting they should put the price up as i believe everything in paintball is overpriced anyway but now you can buy a rippin' marker for £200 would you still buy a impulse, shocker or nerve?
Is it still worth spending £1000 on a marker?
How much has your secondhand marker just been de-valued by?
For £200 you can go and play tourney, if your gun goes down, you buy a new one ! "after all the ion is cheaper than a couple of spare parts"
What's your views before i go home as it's snowing hard down here in kent, yeah baby !

 

[Matski]

The marker is aimed at the lower end of the market, if you see the gun, you will notice that to really use it in tournaments it would need some changes, feed neck and bottom line to name a few. It isn't good news for lower end electro's like the Spyder however the quality of the ion is not even close to the high end markers such as the Angel etc..

Its the first bright idea theyve ever had; to capture the brand loyalty of new entrants to the tournament scene...

 

[Lucky]

I know what they are aiming for and yes the quality isn't all that but this is the first polymer electro gun in production, and i can see an ion mk2 etc following on very quickly, with maybe other companies following suit.
If you are starting out and maybe even some intermediate players included, it will be hard to justify the extra money on a better marker if the ion works, which it should do !

 

[IanC]

Well i think Samrt parts have hit the pricing about bang on with the Ion. Its a very serious marker for the money, and if all tourneys end up allowing assisted fire modes then you would need to spend very little to have an impressive gun.

Also if you take robbo's point regarding the walk-on scene in the uk, a gun like this can only help to add to the middle layer of ballers in this country, assuming they have somewhere to play.

Before you needed to spend out some serious cash to even play competitivly in the walk-ons near me, as most people there were either tourney ballers out for some fun, or long time ballers tooling about with high end markers. Buying a spyder and hitting the fields as you can in the US would result in one thing.....WELTS!

You still get more gun for your money with the shocker and nerve, but if you look at the amount of toys that come on the electro blow backs now, the Ion couldn't really be priced much higher if SP want to steal the thunder from the spyder clones.

laterz

Ian

 

[Gibbsey]

Who sponsors you Ian, remind me?

Its too early to see if this marker will last, we shall see.

 

[Red_Merkin]

i think they're bang on!

Most other industries have concieded long ago that you can take high cost technology and eventually implement it into 'budget' equiptment.

It has a cascading effect, people who would otherwise never buy a decent gun will buy an ion, and in a year sell it to buy a shocker/ nerve. People tend to stick with what they know, and if the first decent gun they buy is an ion, they're likely to buy a better gun from smart parts later on.


Really this makes sense, has been proven in so many other industries, and i'm really excited about this gun because it means that i can start getting my friends involved in the sport without having to subject them to the humiliation of buying a Spyder!

 

[IanC]

Originally posted by Gibbsey
Who sponsors you Ian, remind me?

Smart Parts, says it on my shirt and in my sig banner.....

But i don't see that invalidates the points that I have made.
The Ion rips, is cheap and is generally a good thing.

If you want sponsor speil, no problemmo!

BUY FROM SMART PARTS, YOU NEED A SHOCKER, AND SO DOES YOUR MUM AND DAD. IN FACT YOU NEED TO BUY THE WHOLE SMART PARTS RANGE, IN PERSON, AND TELL THEM THAT IAN FROM HPG TOLD YOU THEY ROCK!



laterz

Ian

 

[irons69]

i am useing a ION now as a spair marker instead of have two high end marker.s
save,s me money in the long run if i have a marker sitting in my bag for under £200 then one that cost me over £700 plus
all i have done to it is put my max-flow on it the feed neck,s fine as it is for halo,s hold,s them nice and tight

 

[NBR]

Now for my question :
"i can see why they've produced it for the price, but if this gun proves worthy have they priced it too low"?
[/B]

I think the only problem you will have with an Ion is the Used price. Already people have sold them for £160 "new" .

So what will the price be on an Ion 1 year old? Will it be worth going for a used one when they will probally still be only £200 retail new?

Or will this be the start of the throw away generation within paintball?

Personally i can't wait to get one and start bashing people with a marker thats worth less than my air system....

 

[garycarrot]

Only time will tell if it's worth it.

As a cheap way into the sport, it does make sense. You seem to get a lot for your money.

With a new feed neck, bottom line on/off and preset air system. You are talking less than £400 all in.

I would consider one as a back up to my a4fly.

As for S/P, they have a new marker that will sell shed loads, and put lots of cash in the bank. Good move, cause they must have lost loads of custom with the law suits.